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Last update - 22:38 04/12/2008 Latin envoys, Israeli ennui By Edan Ring and Roi Beit Levy Tags: latin america, ambassadors  To many Israelis, or so it seems, the Middle East is situated in the center of the world, and at its center is Israel, with Jerusalem lying at its center, with the Western Wall standing at its center. From there, among the greenish hyssops and the folded notes percolating through the cracks and crevices, it is difficult to gain a wider perspective. As a result, many major newsworthy events that are jarring the world outside of Ben-Gurion International Airport (not including the United States, of course, and certain parts of Europe), like gun battles, terrorist attacks, political crises, elections, natural disasters and regional conflicts, barely warrant mention in the Israeli public consciousness. The series of deadly terrorist attacks which shocked Mumbai last week, for instance, was indeed given relatively prominent coverage this past weekend by the Israeli media, but cynics will be quick to point out that the fact that Israelis and Jews were mired in the inferno was what catapulted the Indian drama to the front pages. It is doubtful whether an incident on a similar scale that did not involve Israelis or Jews would generate such a volume of coverage. In these instances, "the Jewish perspective" has turned into the needle through which the Israeli media injects the gargantuan elephant of foreign news. When Jewish prayer shawls splattered with blood enter the picture, the injection is made easily while in many other instances the major stories are simply left out. The space set aside in newspapers and the airtime on television and radio devoted to foreign news stories that are in-depth and diverse are gradually shrinking at a time in which the world was already supposed to have turned into a global village. Advertisement All are not satisfied with the current situation. Ambassadors from Latin American countries stationed in Israel, for instance, are angry and primarily hurt. They argue that the Israeli media is ignoring them. Worst of all, they say, the Foreign Ministry is also guilty of not extending them the attention they deserve. Last week, almost all senior officials representing South American and Central American countries took time to appear at a forum hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya where they kvetched about the current state of affairs which, in their eyes, has become intolerable. Participating in the forum were the emissaries from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala and, for some reason that has yet to be determined, Nepal and Moldova. Their ambassadors also gave the impression of being indignant, albeit in a different accent. During the forum, which was hosted by the Lauder School of Government, the ambassadors presented their "J'accuse," for which they moved up their official ceremonies marking the anniversary on which the United Nations voted in favor of the partition of Palestine and the establishment of the State of Israel, events which normally fall on the 29th of November. The ambassadors repeatedly reminded those present of the significant role played by their countries in the UN vote, in which 13 of the 33 states who supported the creation of the Jewish state were from Latin America. Only one Latin American country - Cuba - opposed the creation of Israel. "You forgot our contribution to the founding of the state," the Costa Rican ambassador to Israel, Naomi Baruch, emphatically told the assembled crowd of electrified students, most of whom were also of Latin American origin. The Chilean envoy to Israel, Irene Bronfman, an erstwhile journalist, aimed her criticism primarily toward senior officials in the Israeli government. "In the last three years, they've barely invited me to official events that are not of an academic nature," she said with undiplomatic indignation. "Foreign Ministry officials do not meet with us and they would not even recognize us if they passed us by in the hallways. Every time I meet Tzipi Livni she says to me, 'Very nice to meet you.'" The people of the book? "Israelis look only at themselves and don't express interest in what happens outside of the country," Bronfman said, continuing her biting address. "This, despite the fact that we are talking about 'the people of the book,' and an educated country with broad horizons. Here people are interested only in reports directly connected to Israel or Jewish matters in other parts of the world. For instance, when Michelle Bachelet was elected president of Chile - the first woman chosen to lead a country in the Western hemisphere - in Israel people primarily took interest in the Jewish ministers she appointed to the government." "Thousands of backpackers travel to our continent, their parents keep tabs on them as long as they are traveling there but when they return they forget about us," Baruch said. "Reading about the continent in newspapers doesn't interest them. Even those who traveled there aren't interested." "I send countless press releases about initiatives and events that I organize, but nobody shows interest," Baruch said. "The Israelis are losing out on a great deal when they do not learn of what is happening in the world." Bronfman, Baruch, and their colleagues argue that Israeli officials seem to be in touch with the continent's emissaries only when one of their country's representatives owns a seat at the UN Security Council or on some other human rights committee which holds votes on issues related to Israel and the conflict in the Middle East. Only then are the ambassadors extended the courtesy of a telephone call from the ministry's director-general or even from the foreign minister herself, who lobbies them to use their influence at the UN to steer the vote in Israel's favor. To boot, despite the fact that many senior government officials from the continent pay visits to Israel (last week, the Salvadorian foreign minister was here as was the president of Uruguay two months prior), the Israeli government has sent nary an emissary of its own for a reciprocal visit in recent years. In a meeting with Haaretz, envoys representing Costa Rica, Chile, and Uruguay claimed that the Foreign Ministry is not allocating sufficient resources in maintaining ties with representatives of the region. "Take a look at the Latin American division in the ministry and you would understand what kind of weight they give to Latin America. The personnel there is minimal," one of the ambassadors said. "They don't understand the importance of the continent, it doesn't interest them." In recent years, Latin America has witnessed riveting political and social changes which barely attract any serious, probing coverage in the Israeli press. The efforts to combat drug smuggling in Mexico have rendered that country more violent than Iraq and Afghanistan. Since the beginning of this year, over 4,000 Mexicans have lost their lives. In Cuba, historic changes are afoot with the end of the Fidel Castro era likely to usher in a complete opening to the West. In Brazil, a battle over land is being waged in the Amazon rainforest, the economic and ecological consequences of which could be far-reaching. The first president of Indian extraction in Bolivia is expending efforts to create a socialist state that seeks to redress the historic wrongs committed against his people. The deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry who oversees contacts with Latin America, Dorit Shavit, attributes the fact that senior government officials rarely make trips to the distant continent to the instability of Israel's parliamentary system. "This is a long trip that leads to an absence of at least one week," Shavit said. "The flight in each direction takes almost two days and if they are already traveling, then they visit two countries. Ministers are fearful of being outside the country for such a long time, they don't want to miss out on no-confidence votes or other important decisions. Europe is closer, and it is easier for them to get there." It is unclear how these statements are consistent with the many visits paid by presidents, prime ministers and ministers to North America, which, as we all know, does not exactly border the Mediterranean Sea. The criticism against the Israeli news media is quite justified, according to Shavit. "I also have similar problems with the print media and television," she said. "When the president of Uruguay was here on a visit, we sent notices to every media outlet announcing his arrival, but nobody showed any interest." Here, too, Shavit's response does not correspond with reality. For three days, a Haaretz reporter tried to chase down Tabare Vasquez, the Uruguayan premier, for a half-hour interview, but was offered no assistance by the Foreign Ministry or the Uruguayan embassy. "The president was tired," Alfredo Cazes Alvarez, the Uruguayan ambassador, explained. Perhaps before his next trip, the president will find time for an afternoon nap so that he could make it into the newspaper. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Settler rampage Video shows settler shooting Palestinian in the stomach from point-blank range. Living side by side An historic Chicago synagogue neighbors Barack Obama's house.

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